Rare Bioluminescent Underwater Creatures: Vampire Squid, Dumbo Octopus, Anglerfish And Other Glowing Animals (PHOTOS/VIDEOS)

From BBC Earth's Arj Singh:

As we approach winter, the nights start drawing in and the days become darker, it seems like the perfect time of year to celebrate light.

That's what happens during the religious festivals of Hanukkah and Diwali and we at BBC Earth wanted to have a celebration of our own.

We've turned to the beauty of light in nature for inspiration, and picked some of our favorite bioluminescent animals.

These strange, wonderful and rare creatures actually emit light. Whether it's from 'fishing rods' coming out of their heads or from squirted protective 'ink', the phenomenon certainly brightens up our days...

[You can find more great nature stories like this one, win DVDs and participate in a competition that could see your photos on our site over on our Facebook page.]

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Sea Gooseberries

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These weird predators look more like something you’d find in a novelty electrical store than planktonic ocean life but they are one of the most amazing examples of bioluminescence. Sea gooseberries use their two long, trailing tentacles to fish for prey. Their bodies are virtually transparent and rows of tiny cilia catch the light, producing rainbow-like colors and turning the waves into ocean rainbows. Made up of 99 percent water, these comb jellies still manage to feed on other plankton.

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These weird predators look more like something you’d find in a novelty electrical store than planktonic ocean life but they are one of the most amazing examples of bioluminescence.

Sea gooseberries use their two long, trailing tentacles to fish for prey. Their bodies are virtually transparent and rows of tiny cilia catch the light, producing rainbow-like colors and turning the waves into ocean rainbows.

Made up of 99 percent water, these comb jellies still manage to feed on other plankton.

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This Creature

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Looks Like A Dead Flashlight Lusciously Luminescent!

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Comments

[blueskybigstar]

12:11 PM on 12/04/2010

That squid is cute.

[valluhree]

02:04 AM on 12/04/2010

The world is just awesome.

[MsMarchHare]

03:29 PM on 12/03/2010

It's Cthulhu! Seriously guys get out of there you have disturbed his slumber by invading R'lyeh!

Aiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!

[mamacat]

02:58 PM on 12/03/2010

Today's LA Times has a picture of a weird looking fish that washed up on the beach at Malibu. That would look good in this assemblage, except that it is dead.

[mamacat]

09:08 PM on 12/03/2010

Went back to the article, and it was a "small", 12 foot long oarfish. The longest one ever measured was 56 feet, according to the article.

[valluhree]

02:00 AM on 12/04/2010

Oooh, I love Oarfish. They're gorgeous.
They usually come to the surface to die, though. It's rather sad.

[DeePDX]

02:40 PM on 12/03/2010

The male Anglerfish reminds me of an ex-boyfriend.

Thank goodness I escaped with my skin and blood intact ;-)

[Seth Gordon]

12:49 PM on 12/03/2010

But the most important question is... how do they TASTE?

[jcarterla]

12:00 PM on 12/03/2010

They all live in the East River.

[copelli21]

10:50 AM on 12/03/2010

Anglerfish.....typical the female ends up having to carry the burden.....i mean, the males. (tee-hee)

[MadameChaillot]

10:27 AM on 12/03/2010

That vampire squid looks just like my ex-husband....

[topkatnc]

10:19 AM on 12/03/2010

Dumbo is a cute little critter ....

[ProfessorDuh]

10:14 AM on 12/03/2010

Vampire squid? I thought they didn't exist, outside of Goldman Sachs.

[jim9034]

09:45 AM on 12/03/2010

At first glance i thought, teabagger.

[MohammedAbbasi]

09:22 AM on 12/03/2010

I hope had the BBCs permission to use that - they throw fits if people use their stuff!

BTW cool stuff